The Many Faces of Harry
by Lexen
Summary: Possibilities for how Harry's life might have gone with a different companion. All are set post-Final Battle. There are both slash and het pairings, and the pairing is listed in the AN for each drabble. Pairings include Harry/Severus, Harry/Draco, Harry/Charlie, Harry/Hermione, and Harry/Daphne.
1. Mine-HarrySeverus

**Disclaimer****: I don't own it, and I make no money off of it. Please don't sue me.**

**AN****: This "story" is an unrelated collection of drabbles featuring various Harry pairings, both slash and het. It's a gift for DobbyRocksSocks because I didn't manage an update for her other gift story by Christmas. The drabbles are submissions for the "Number of Your Pen Name" challenge on HPFC. I have rated this collection mature for safety, and I have listed the pairing in the AN for each drabble. Please read and review!**

** For this drabble, the pairing is Harry/Severus, and it is obviously AU and EWE. **

Severus shook his head and sighed at Harry. "You're not doing it right. How do you expect to be an imposing professor if you don't learn to billow your robes properly?"

Harry looked at Severus in annoyance. "What am I not doing correctly? Really, Severus, I'm teaching defense, not potions. I have no reason to scare the students to death." It was his turn to sigh. "However, I would like it very much if they would stop asking for my autograph."

Severus smirked. "That is exactly why you must learn to billow! If you terrify them properly, they won't dream of fawning over you."

Harry smirked back, his green eyes dancing with amusement. "They can fawn over me all they want to, but as you well know, I'm taken."

In the next moment, Harry found himself up against the wall with his face pressed against the cold, grey stone.

"You had best remember that my little snakeling." Severus's voice was low in his ear. "You are taken. I have claimed you as my own, and I do not share!"

Harry shivered for reasons that had nothing to do with the coldness of the stone against his skin. Severus had fought for the Light, but that did not make him Light. And Harry was nowhere near as Light as he used to be. The Dark Mark on Severus's arm would never fade completely, and Harry's innocence, whatever of it he had retained after everything he had been through by that point, had burned to ashes with Voldemort.

Safe was just not his style anymore. Harry couldn't understand safety, and he didn't want to. Severus understood that and understood him. For the two of them, it was enough.

Darkness wasn't nearly so frightening when you had someone beside you.


	2. A Second Chance-HarryDraco

**Disclaimer****: I don't own it, and I make no money off of it. Please don't sue me.**

**AN****: This "story" is an unrelated collection of drabbles featuring various Harry pairings, both slash and het. It's a gift for DobbyRocksSocks because I didn't manage an update for her other gift story by Christmas. The drabbles are submissions for the "Number of Your Pen Name" challenge on HPFC. I have rated this collection mature for safety, and I have listed the pairing in the AN for each drabble. Please read and review!**

** For this drabble, the pairing is Harry/Draco, and it is AU in that it is set during Harry and Draco's "eighth year." **

"Are you absolutely sure that your parents are okay with me staying with you over the winter holiday? I'm not exactly Astoria Greengrass." Harry adjusted his school robes for the fifth time as they waited at the train station for the arrival of Draco's parents.

Draco's smile was genuine as he tightened his gloved hand on Harry's own.

"Harry, you worry too much. I made it abundantly clear to my parents that you are infinitely better than Astoria Greengrass. Furthermore, I made absolutely certain that they understood that I would do exactly what I pleased regarding my choice of romantic partner. I am finished trying to mold my life to their expectations. All that brought me was pain and grief." Pensively, Draco rubbed his left forearm, obviously remembering the faded Dark Mark still branded there.

It was Harry's turn to reassure Draco. "You've come out of it a better man, Dragon, and I would rather have a man who has been tried and has learned his lessons the hard way than one who has drifted through life with no hardships. It tells me how strong you are."

Draco smirked. "You know, you are the only person who can get away with calling me Dragon besides my parents. That should tell you something about what I think about you. As to the other, I've learned a lot; that is certainly true. But I've got a long way to go."

"Does the same hold true for your parents?" Harry asked softly.

The look in Draco's eyes when he replied was gentle. "I think it does. Do you realize that when my father hugged me in the Great Hall after the battle that that was the first time that my father has ever embraced me in public?" For a moment, Harry was sure he saw the sheen of tears in his boyfriend's eyes. "Then he told me that he loved me. Believe me, he has changed. It will be slow with him, with my mother too but especially with him. But it is happening. According to my mother, Lucius has been trying very hard to learn to say muggleborn rather than the alternative. For him, that's a very big step."

Harry smiled. "Hermione told me that when she ran into Lucius at the Ministry last week, he congratulated her very politely about her engagement to Ron. Now, Hermione is trying to convince Ron to invite your family to their wedding. Arthur apparently had a similar polite encounter with your father. Did you know that Kingsley has put Lucius and Arthur together on a project?"

Draco laughed. "That is progress indeed since Lucius and Arthur are both still alive with all of their limbs intact. I never thought I would see the day that my father would get along with Arthur Weasley. If we are invited to the wedding, I suspect that more than a few of our ancestors will be rolling in their graves."

"I absolutely agree, Draco," a voice called out, and they looked up to see the familiar figure of Lucius Malfoy striding through the crowd toward them.

"Father, it is good to see you again," Draco said, unconsciously slipping into the innate formality that had been ingrained in him since birth.

But Lucius was having none of it. The pureblood mask slipped as Lucius reached out to pull Draco into an awkward but clearly heartfelt embrace.

"Draco, your mother and I have missed you this term. We are looking forward to spending the winter holiday with you and yours." The words were formal, but the tone was warm and welcoming.

Draco actually grinned as he turned to make introductions.

"Father, I'd like you to meet my boyfriend, Harry Potter. Harry, this is my father, Lucius." The handshake felt ridiculous to them both, but manners were manners. Then a new voice startled them all.

"That was the most stilted introduction that I think I have ever heard. Really, my Dragon, I do believe we have met Harry Potter, more than once if I recall correctly. However, I am pleased that this time it is under more pleasant circumstances." Narcissa Malfoy, as lovely as ever, walked up behind Lucius, but she was not alone. In her arms was a small sleeping infant whose hair was currently as blond as Narcissa's own, and walking by her side was none other than Andromeda Tonks.

The look of joy on Harry's face was confirmation to the Malfoys that reaching out to their exiled cousin had been the right thing, though not the easy thing, to do. The invitation had come with a difficult apology from the Malfoys, tears from Narcissa and Andromeda, and an evening of quiet reflection beside the grave of Bellatrix Lestrange. In the end, Lucius had told the family portraits just where they could take their objections, and Andromeda had accepted her sister and brother-in-law's invitation to spend Christmas with them.

Harry grinned at his boyfriend's family. "As the new Lord Black, I was going to reinstate Andromeda, but it looks like you have beaten me to it."

Lucius sighed and glanced at Andromeda and Teddy with something like affection.

"Even we are capable of learning to apologize. You'll still have to reinstate her ritualistically, of course, but it just seemed like what we ought to do." He laid a hand on Narcissa's arm and looked pensively down at the baby. "Cissa has buried one sister already. I will not allow it to happen again. And this little one needs some blond influence to balance out all the red."

They all laughed at that, waking the baby, who glanced around with wide blue eyes. He saw Draco and reached out a tiny hand.

Draco paled. "I don't think so. He can't want me. He hardly knows me."

Harry laughed at his boyfriend's reaction. "It's probably that dragon pin you are wearing that caught his eye, but it's about time you held him. He's my godson so we're going to have him underfoot a lot. Here, let me help." He took the baby from a reluctant Narcissa.

"It's really very simple. Support his head and cradle the rest of his body against your chest. Hold him securely but not too tight. That's it, just like that." Harry beamed as he watched Draco holding Teddy for the first time. They all watched as Teddy's hair immediately lightened to match Draco's. Then Narcissa's blue eyes disappeared into Draco's grey.

Harry moved to his boyfriend's side as Draco stared down at the baby in wonder.

"That's as natural to him as breathing, isn't it? How amazing!" Slowly, his arms relaxed as he got used to the weight of the child in his arms. Harry slipped an arm around his waist and rested his head on his shoulder.

Watching the scene, Lucius and Narcissa exchanged glances with Andromeda and smiled. Their Christmas present had clearly decided to come early.


	3. Refuge-HarryCharlie

**Disclaimer****: I don't own it, and I make no money off of it. Please don't sue me.**

**AN****: This "story" is an unrelated collection of drabbles featuring various Harry pairings, both slash and het. It's a gift for DobbyRocksSocks because I didn't manage an update for her other gift story by Christmas. The drabbles are submissions for the "Number of Your Pen Name" challenge on HPFC. I have rated this collection mature for safety, and I have listed the pairing in the AN for each drabble. Please read and review!**

** For this drabble, the pairing is Harry/Charlie and obviously AU and EWE. **

Putting himself back together after the war had not gone as smoothly as Harry had expected. He'd tried. He'd really tried. But in between the flashbacks and the nightmares and after an endless round of funerals and far too many Ministry ceremonies, Harry was ready to snap.

Wisely, Ginny immediately stopped pursuing him, and Harry was not surprised to find that Hermione and Ron had broken up as well. Hermione had taken refuge at Hogwarts with Headmistress McGonagall, and Ron was shadowing his brother George. Harry got the impression that Ron was sometimes all that was keeping George on the living side of the Veil.

As for Harry, he'd attempted to reside at the Burrow for a time and then at Grimmauld Place. But after snapping one too many times at Molly for no reason except that no one would leave him alone, it became abundantly clear that he needed to get away for a while.

Oddly enough, it was Percy who offered a way out.

"Didn't Charlie say that they needed some help out on the dragon preserve? Why don't you give it a try, Harry? Even the press couldn't find you out there, and the dragons wouldn't talk back. Charlie's not so talkative himself."

For Harry, it had turned out to be the perfect solution. The preserve did need help, and Charlie had turned out to be an excellent teacher. Surprisingly, the dragons took to Harry immediately, and Charlie and the other dragon handlers were amazed by how docile they became in his presence.

Harry just shrugged. "They seem to like a firm yet gentle hand. I don't blame them really. It's what I've wanted all my life and never gotten."

Charlie was not a talker, but he was a listener. He heard Harry loud and clear, and it intrigued him. Charlie had never thought himself the type to be with anyone. Many of the handlers had relationships with each other, but theirs was not a profession that leant itself to a traditional family arrangement. However, Harry didn't seem to want that.

A few weeks later as Harry relaxed on a hill overlooking the dragons who were stretched out lazily in the sun, Charlie decided to find out. Harry looked up as Charlie sat down beside him. Charlie was glad to see that Harry seemed calmer than he'd been since he had gotten to the reserve. Dragons could be volatile when angered or threatened, but on the whole, they were a peaceful lot, certainly more so than the ceaseless noise of wizarding England. For someone running from the world, the dragon preserve could be a sanctuary. Clearly, Harry thought so.

Charlie took a deep breath and captured Harry's green eyes with his own blue ones. He never was one to speak needlessly so he got right to the point.

"Did you mean what you said a few weeks ago about wanting a firm yet gentle hand?" Charlie waited patiently for Harry to realize what he was asking.

Harry's eyes widened slightly. "Yes." He shifted closer to the older wizard. "Are you offering?"

"That depends," Charlie said, raking his eyes over him in admiration. "Are you accepting?"

Harry returned his frank stare, clearly pleased with what he saw. "There's one thing though. No rings. No vows. No kids. At least not yet. Just us…and them." He made a sweeping gesture toward the sleeping dragons.

"I think we both can live with that."

They kissed. They made love. And they answered to no one save for the dragons.

It was enough.


	4. Darkness-HarryHermione

**Disclaimer****: I don't own it, and I make no money off of it. Please don't sue me.**

**AN****: This "story" is an unrelated collection of drabbles featuring various Harry pairings, both slash and het. It's a gift for DobbyRocksSocks because I didn't manage an update for her other gift story by Christmas. The drabbles are submissions for the "Number of Your Pen Name" challenge on HPFC. I have rated this collection mature for safety, and I have listed the pairing in the AN for each drabble. Please read and review!**

** For this drabble, the pairing is Harry/Hermione and obviously AU and EWE. **

"I hadn't expected that you would come back. Ron went straight into the auror program. I thought you would too. I thought that was what you wanted too." Hermione sat down beside Harry on the sofa in the Gryffindor common room.

Harry sighed and shook his head. "I thought so for a while. But I just fought a war, and now all those graves line the hill behind the school. I've had my fill of fighting. And I realized that it was really important to me to graduate properly. So many of our classmates never got the chance. I also don't want to be known as someone who got into the aurors based on my fame and a lucky bit of magic."

Hermione placed her hand over his and squeezed it. "What about Ginny?"

Harry looked sheepish. "We broke up. It was just impossible even to look at her like that after everything that's happened to me. She can't understand it. She never will be able to understand it. And I need someone who understands what I've been through, the terrors that haunt me at night and the flashbacks that torture me when I'm awake. She's a nice girl. But she's not a good match for me." He smiled wanly at her. "What about you and Ron? I thought the two of you had made up."

Hermione grimaced. "We tried. But frankly, it's just not going to work between us. Now that the war is over, it's clear to me that we have nothing in common. He'll be a good husband to someone, but that someone isn't me. And I still can't forget that he left even though I have tried to forgive him. It's irrational, but I guess even I can be irrational." She absently rubbed her arm.

Harry noticed. "What about your scar?"

She blushed. "It's not something that I want him to see. I don't want anyone to see it"

His green eyes narrowed in concern. "Hermione, it's nothing to be ashamed of. If anything, it's a sign of your bravery."

"I'd rather not be that kind of brave. I just wish it would go away." She hunched over, but he put his arm around her and pulled her against him to lean on his shoulder.

"If it bothers you, we'll ask the headmistress to help us find a way to remove it or at least to hide it. But it doesn't bother me a bit."

She shifted closer to him, and he leaned back against the sofa pillows, drawing her into his arms. They stayed like that for quite a while, enjoying the quiet before the rest of the students arrived.

Hermione broke the silence. "Can you still speak Parseltongue?"

Harry looked troubled as he answered. "Yes, I can. It worries me a little. I've still got the scar too, although it has faded."

"Are you worried that Voldemort could return?" she asked.

He nodded. "What about you? Do you think that he's really gone for good?"

She curled closer to him. "I want to believe he is. But I can't help but remember the old saying; the third time is the charm."

Harry absently brushed a lock of her hair out of her face. "Sometimes, I wonder if the horcrux in me is truly gone. I worry that he will return. But even more, I worry that he will return through me."

Suddenly, her hands were hard on his face, pulling his mouth down to hers in a desperate move that reminded him of all the days that they spent on the run. Neither of them had forgotten it, and it was a way of relating to each other that no one else, not even Ron, could understand.

Their kiss was hungry, frantic, and left them both gasping before she wrenched her mouth away from his.

"If he does come back, we'll fight him together. And if he takes you over anyway, I will follow you into the darkness." Hermione's breathless declaration had him reaching for her again.

Her brown eyes were black in the light from the torches, and he had an uncomfortable feeling that the woman gazing out of them at him was not fully Hermione. In fact, her eyes reminded him eerily of Bellatrix Lestrange.

It did not frighten him quite as much as it should have.


	5. Enough-HarryDaphne

**Disclaimer****: I don't own it, and I make no money off of it. Please don't sue me.**

**AN****: This "story" is an unrelated collection of drabbles featuring various Harry pairings, both slash and het. It's a gift for DobbyRocksSocks because I didn't manage an update for her other gift story by Christmas. The drabbles are submissions for the "Number of Your Pen Name" challenge on HPFC. I have rated this collection mature for safety, and I have listed the pairing in the AN for each drabble. Please read and review!**

** For this drabble, the pairing is Harry/Daphne and obviously AU and EWE. I've changed some dynamics, pairings, and things that happened during the Final Battle. Harry may be OOC here, but I think it's possible Harry might have chosen this path (probably out of sheer frustration with everyone trying to push him in a different direction). **

"My father told me that you asked for his blessing to ask for my hand in marriage," Daphne Greengrass said as she sipped her tea at the newly renovated Grimmauld Place. "I'm not surprised that he gave it, but I am rather surprised that you went to the trouble at all. We are both of age now. It was unnecessary." She paused, setting down her cup and glancing at him. "That being said, I appreciate the courtesy."

Harry smiled, adjusting the robes that Lucius Malfoy had helped him pick out. They really did flatter him, and Narcissa's hair charms had finally succeeded in calming his wild locks.

"Absurd as it may seem, I wanted to follow the old ways. I know I'm not a pureblood, but I hoped that my doing so would make me more acceptable to your family." Harry's green eyes were bright and visible now that his vision had finally been magically corrected, and Daphne found herself beginning to understand the appeal of Harry Potter. Nonetheless, she was a well-trained pureblood woman, and there were certain concerns that she needed to put to rest before she consented to his interest.

"That's all well and good, but I do hope that you aren't pursuing me simply to use my connections to further your aims. Marrying a Slytherin would certainly go a long way toward convincing the disgruntled grey and dark wizards and witches that you are open to seeing their point of view, and it would most definitely grant you entry into the most elite circles of pureblood society." She eyed him sidelong and was surprised by the smirk that crept onto his face.

"Of course you are correct, Daphne. Many people will see it that way. Let them think what they wish. However, while I am well aware of the side benefits to a marriage between us, that is not my primary reason for pursuing you." He shifted fully to face her, and she couldn't help but notice that the boy who had brought down the Dark Lord had matured into a strong, handsome man.

"Daphne, you are intelligent, cunning, and yes, beautiful. You have the expertise to navigate the pureblood world that I am not naïve enough to believe has ceased to be a major player in our society. You also have other interests besides being a wife and a mother, and yet, from what I know of you, you would look on your children as Narcissa Malfoy looks on Draco. She adores him and was ready to die for him. Yet she had a life apart from him. Her children did not define her."

Daphne eyed him skeptically. "You don't want to marry a Molly Weasley?"

Harry's cool mask slipped for a moment as a sheepish expression crossed his face.

"While I appreciate her care and affection for me, I have no desire to marry a woman like her. I want an equal in all things, and I need a balance to my unwanted fame. I want a partner whose sense of self will not be dependent on her children or even her connection to me and my fame."

Daphne felt her skepticism easing. "You can be assured that I am not Molly Weasley. May I also assume that you do not wish to marry me for my money?"

Harry chuckled. "Your money is the last thing that would concern me. Besides, I have more money than I will ever be able to spend, and your family is most certainly not poor either."

"How do you intend to be employed? I know that you have been offered auror training, and I don't relish the idea of having an auror for a husband." This was a major question for her. Daphne did not want an absentee husband or one engaged in such dangerous activities on a daily basis. With Harry Potter, it seemed almost a foregone conclusion. But his answer surprised her.

"I can assure you that I no longer have any interest in becoming an auror. I've had enough danger to last a lifetime. Now that I no longer have a madman trying to kill me, I will have a chance to sit down and examine the stack of job offers that have been arriving for me since I graduated. I'm not really sure any more where my interests lay, but I can assure you that anything like the aurors is out. I intend to be a family man, and I intend to see my children grow up. Nor will I allow house elves to raise them."

Daphne nodded, aware that her satisfaction showed in her eyes. She was running out of angles to address so she decided to tackle her last objection.

"What about Ginny Weasley? The last I heard, you were going to marry her. What about Hermione Granger and Luna Lovegood? I would have thought that you would be more interested in marrying someone you know rather than someone you don't."

He smiled. "Nothing moves faster than the rumor mill, does it? To address your concerns, I know all three of those women too well for a marriage to work between us. Ginny is like a little sister to me. Hermione is my best friend, and I would trust Luna's wisdom above anyone else's. I am close to them all, but I have no desire to be married to any of them. Even Ginny has finally been willing to acknowledge my lack of interest, especially since Blaise has taken such an interest in her."

It was Daphne's turn to smirk. "They are quite a couple, aren't they? The Malfoys were shocked when Blaise declared his interest. But then Draco declared his own interest in Hermione, and they found themselves with no room to talk."

They both laughed at that, and he continued. "Everyone seems to be doing well for themselves. Luna and Neville are a matched set, and your sister has caught the eye of Gregory Goyle. Even Ron has found his way to Lavender." He paused and rested his hand very close to the arm of her chair. "Now, shall we join them?"

Daphne sighed, a small smile flitting about her lips. This wasn't how she had imagined her life would turn out, but Harry could certainly say the same. It might not be a love match, but Lucius and Narcissa's marriage had not been in the beginning either. Either way, she suspected they would at least get along. He would not saddle her with a Weasley-sized family, and she would even be free to pursue her charms mastery. In return, she would show him the ropes of pureblood society and be pretty eye candy at balls, parties, and Ministry functions. He could support her even without her money, and she doubted that she would ever have to worry about Harry causing a scandal, considering how much his current fame distressed him. 

When she was young, Daphne had dreamed of romance and being swept away on a wave of passion. But she was not a little girl anymore. She had fought in a war and made it through alive while some of her classmates and relatives had not. That had a way of making someone grow up in a hurry. Of course, Harry knew that. They could understand each other, and mutual understanding was certainly not a bad thing to base a marriage on.

Daphne smiled, and it was a real smile this time. "Very well. I accept. Do you have a ring for me?"

For just a moment, Daphne caught a fleeting glimpse of the nervous boy she had seen at the Yule Ball during the Triwizard Tournament.

"Yes, I do. I'm perfectly willing to wait if you would rather do this more formally."

She found his blush to be very appealing. "No, let's finalize this now. After all that's happened, I find that I don't have as much patience as I once had."

He laughed, and the nervousness disappeared as he reached into the pocket of his robe.

"I agree completely." He pulled out a velvet box and took out a ring. It was understated and elegant, a mix of sapphires and emeralds with a diamond at the center. "I hope you like it. I didn't want to give you something too flashy, but I wanted a bit of both of us in it."

Daphne swallowed hard. She had not expected any romance from this arrangement, but it meant a great deal to her that he had taken care to find a ring that represented both of them. His eyes were green like the emeralds and like his mother's eyes had been. Her eyes were blue like the sapphires and like her father's eyes were. And the diamond was the vow that wove the two of them together.

Harry Potter went to one knee in front of her. "Daphne Greengrass, will you marry me?"

She looked at him. He looked at her. She extended her hand.

"Yes."

Their kiss was sweet, and if it wasn't trembling with lust and passion, it was at least full of the promise of good things to come.

For the two of them, it was enough.


End file.
